The Faerie Plague (Dark World: The Faerie Games Book 5)

by Michelle Madow

  Finally, the ground solidified under my feet.

  “Where’s Selena?” Julian’s voice was the first thing I heard before the light around me disappeared.

  I was back on the hill, inside the super dome.

  Julian had forced Lavinia onto the ground, and he was holding a knife to her throat. Thomas and Sage prowled around them in their wolf forms, their eyes locked on Lavinia. Torrence and Reed stood opposite each other at the edges of the dome.

  Bits of black swirled along the dome’s walls. The remaining zombies stumbled around outside the dome, but luckily, everyone seemed to have gotten back to safety unharmed.

  Julian’s knife disappeared into the ether, and he ran to me, pulling me into a hug so tight I could barely breathe.

  Over his shoulder, I saw Lavinia get up and run. But she smacked into the dome’s wall. The black magic kept her locked inside. She cursed, and Torrence ran for her, holding her knife to her neck just like Julian had been doing before. Lavinia clawed at Torrence’s arms hard enough that she drew blood with her long, pointy nails, but Torrence didn’t loosen her hold.

  Julian pulled away and took my face in his hands, as if making sure I was real. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Fallon—the demon—took me somewhere to fight me. But she lost. I killed her.”

  “I figured as much when the Red Storm ended,” he said, still looking down at me like he was worried I might disappear at any second. “But how did you kill her? You didn’t have a holy weapon.”

  “Turns out the Holy Wand is a holy weapon.” I smiled, and the wand’s crystals glowed slightly, like they were showing themselves off. Then I reached into my pocket, opened my hand, and revealed the tooth. “She’s gone.”

  The storm I’d created overhead disappeared, and sunlight shined down upon the tooth. It was an ugly, pointed, yellowed thing, which was why demons used their version of glamour to make them look normal. But right then it felt like the most precious thing in the universe.

  Well, not the most precious thing.

  Because there was one thing I wanted more.

  I looked at where Torrence was still holding down Lavinia. Sage and Thomas prowled around them, and while Sage’s wolf was smaller than his, the murder in her eyes made her look far more deadly. Blood dripped to the ground from the scratches along Torrence’s arms, and she dug the edge of the blade into Lavinia’s throat, drawing blood herself.

  Lavinia’s lips quivered, and she whimpered.

  Weak.

  “She’s not skilled in combat,” Julian said. “It wasn’t difficult to corner her.”

  I nodded, remembering how Fallon had said that she didn’t care if Lavinia lived or died. “Have you tried getting her to tell you the cure yet?”

  “Not yet. Our priority was finding out where the demon took you.”

  “Well, I’m back,” I said. “Now, we need the cure.”

  Lavinia pressed her lips together, saying nothing.

  Reed stepped forward so he was near us, and his eyes flashed black. “Want me to torture it out of her with dark magic?” he asked.

  “No.” I faced Lavinia straight on, and electricity raced from my palms up along my scars. “I’ll do it.”

  “You sure about that?” He looked me up and down, like he didn’t think I had it in me.

  “Yes.”

  My anger grew hotter as I walked toward Lavinia, and dark clouds rolled back in overhead. Thunder cracked with each of my steps. I stopped when there was only a foot between us.

  Julian and Reed walked behind me, but I kept my gaze locked on the Foster witch. Her ragged white dress was filthy with dirt, and her ink-black hair was a tangled mess. She was barely fighting back.

  Whatever had happened before I’d returned must have been good.

  But I’d hear about that later. Because the cowering witch before me was responsible for the plague that was slowly killing my soulmate, and that had already killed an unimaginable number of fae and half-bloods.

  I was ready to break her.

  I raised the hand that I wasn’t using to hold the wand so it was right in front of her face. Mini bolts of electricity hummed and crackled between my fingertips, and I smiled, hoping I looked as deadly as Octavia in the arena.

  Lavinia flinched backward, and Torrence tightened her hold around her waist.

  “Tell us how to make the cure,” I said.

  “There is no cure.”

  “Lies.” I shot a mini-bolt of electricity at her chest—enough to hurt her, but not kill her. I held onto her with the electricity to keep her from thrashing forward into the edge of Torrence’s knife.

  She seized and dropped her hands from Torrence’s arms. Red shot through the whites of her eyes, and I released my hold on her.

  She fell back into Torrence, her breaths shallow. Tears streamed down her cheeks.

  Torrence propped her up and smirked. Her eyes flashed black, and black smoke drifted up from her hand around Lavinia’s waist.

  Lavinia gasped and jerked forward. Just in time, Torrence moved the knife away and held Lavinia’s neck in a strangle instead, keeping her upright.

  “Torrence,” I warned. “Stop.”

  “Why?” More smoke rose from her palm. “You’re not the only one who can play this game.”

  “Because we need to keep her alive.”

  She didn’t let go of her magic.

  I gathered more electricity in my hands. “Don’t make me hurt you,” I said, even though I knew I’d never be able to bring myself to use my magic against my best friend.

  Torrence must have known that, too, because she didn’t stop.

  Lavinia groaned, flopped into Torrence’s arms, and went limp.

  Thomas pounced at Torrence, shifting back into human form midair. Moving in a blur, he pushed Torrence toward Reed and propped Lavinia up. “Control her,” he said to Reed, and Reed created a yellow and black mini dome around himself and Torrence. Satisfied, Thomas turned back to me. “Use your magic to shock her back into consciousness.”

  I pressed my hand flat against Lavinia’s chest and jolted her with electricity.

  Her eyes snapped open, and she sucked in a sharp breath.

  “The cure,” I said before she could speak.

  She glanced over at where Reed had trapped Torrence and wiped her bloodied fingers on her dress. Her eyes traveled to Julian, to Sage, and then back to me, defeat splattered across her face.

  “Fine,” she said. “You’re right. There is a cure.”

  “Of course there is.” I stepped back and gathered a ball of electricity in my hand. “Tell us what it is.”

  “And then what?” She smirked. “You’ll let me go?”

  “We’ll test it to make sure it works. Then we’ll let you go.”

  She chuckled, apparently not believing my lie. “Are you ready to make a blood oath on it?”

  “I’m fae,” I said, and my wings sparkled brighter. “I can’t lie. A blood oath isn’t necessary.”

  “You’re half-fae,” she said. “And you absolutely can lie. Like you did just now.”

  I sighed, since she was right.

  “It’s a solid offer,” Julian spoke up from beside me, and he sized up Lavinia. “What, specifically, are you requesting from us?”

  “First, I want you to stop holding a knife to my neck. Your point has been made, and I’m willing to work with you.”

  “Do you promise not to try anything against us?” I asked.

  “I’m not stupid like Fallon,” she said. “I know I can’t win a fight against the six of you, and I plan on getting out of this alive. So let’s figure out how to make that happen in a civilized manner.”

  I held my wand at the ready. Then I nodded to Thomas, and he let Lavinia go.

  Her legs wobbled. She took a few seconds to steady herself, then she adjusted her dirty, bloodied dress.

  Thomas moved to stand next to Sage, who’d also shifted back to human form.

  “Much better,” La
vinia said with a satisfied smile. “Now, as I was saying. I’ll tell you how to create the cure. In exchange, you’ll let me live, and you’ll let me use my token—or any token I can get my hands on—to return to Earth.”

  “We’ll have to verify that the cure works,” I said. “But fine. If you give us a true cure, we won’t stop you from returning to Earth.”

  I didn’t like it, but I’d do anything for that cure.

  “Hold on,” she said, and I stilled. “I wasn’t finished.”

  “Go on.”

  “Until I portal out of the Otherworld, none of you will portal back to Earth without my consent,” she said. “So if I die while still here, the blood oath will keep you from ever portaling back. I can’t risk you leaving me here at the mercy of the fae, and it’ll give you incentive to help me return home. And along with letting me live, you won’t make any moves against me, ever. So none of you will be able to purposefully harm me, and you won’t be able to help anyone harm me, either.”

  “I don’t like it,” Sage said.

  “I didn’t think you would.” Lavinia smiled at Sage. “What would you propose, instead?”

  “Safety until we all return to Earth. Then, once we’re back, all deals are off.”

  “And then, if we end up taking the same portal, you’ll kill me the moment we land on the other side.” She chuckled. “No can do.”

  Sage narrowed her eyes, not denying it.

  “How about this,” I said. “We’ll give you the safety you asked for. If we take the same portal to Earth, we’ll let you teleport away from the landing site unharmed. But that’s it. Once you teleport away, the blood oath is complete.”

  “And what will you do if I say no?” Lavinia asked. “Kill me?”

  I pressed my lips together, because no, of course I wasn’t going to kill her. We needed that cure too badly.

  “I didn’t think so.” She squared her shoulders, looking extremely pleased with herself. “My deal is reasonable, and it benefits us all. I recommend taking it.”

  “It’s reasonable, except for one part,” Julian said. “If we can’t harm you, we won’t be able to defend ourselves if you attack us. So it’s only fair if it goes both ways. We can’t hurt or kill you, and you can’t hurt or kill any of us.”

  I nearly smacked myself. Because I should have thought of that loophole, too. But like fae deals, blood oaths were tricky things. I was grateful that Julian was skilled at making them.

  “Hm.” She looked at him approvingly. “I can agree to that.”

  “Selena’s offer was good, too.” Sage stepped forward, but Thomas took her hand, stopping her from getting any closer to Lavinia. “Unless you’re afraid we’ll be able to easily hunt you down and kill you once we’re all back on Earth, even with the protection of the witches in your circle and the demons you work for?”

  “You’re not going to trick me by trying to wound my pride,” she said calmly. “Perhaps that works on shifters, given how reactive you all can be, but it won’t work on me. It’s Julian’s deal or nothing.”

  I looked to Sage, who was staring at Lavinia like she wanted to murder her on the spot. “Sage,” I pleaded, but she didn’t budge. “This is Julian’s life we’re talking about. My soulmate. If the situation were reversed, and it was Thomas who needed the cure, wouldn’t you want us to do whatever was necessary to get it for him?”

  Sage looked to Thomas, and her eyes softened.

  “You would,” he said. “Just like I’d do anything to get the cure for you, if you were the one who needed it.”

  Silence. We all just stood there, staring at Sage, waiting for her to change her mind.

  Instead, she ran to Lavinia, grabbed her by the neck, and pushed her up against the wall of the dome. She shifted her fingernails into claws and slashed them across Lavinia’s pale white cheek. Blood seeped out of the three slices and dripped down the witch’s face.

  Lavinia struggled, but after my electrical jolts and Torrence’s dark magic, she barely had any strength left in her.

  “The others can take whatever deal they want,” Sage said, her face right up to Lavinia’s. “I’ll agree that we don’t harm each other until we’re back on Earth and you teleport away. After that, all bets are off. Unless you want scars on your other cheek, too?”

  Lavinia looked to me, as if I’d help her.

  I said nothing.

  Sage tightened her grip around Lavinia’s neck.

  Lavinia gagged and scratched futilely at Sage’s hand. “Fine,” she choked out, and Sage released her. She fell to the ground, and Sage rushed back to Thomas’s side.

  Lavinia’s fingers went to her cheek, and she pulled them away, staring at the blood.

  Since the marks were made with shifter claws, they’d leave permanent scars.

  She blinked a few times. Then she stood up, wiped the blood on her dress, and held out her palm. “Who wants to go first?” she asked, and then, one by one, we stepped up, sliced our palms, and entered into the blood oath.

  22

  SELENA

  I WAS the last to make the oath. The oath’s magic sealed the slice on my palm, and the skin was good as new.

  Once finished, I rejoined Julian and the others. We all faced Lavinia.

  “It’s done,” Torrence said to the witch. She’d gotten control over herself in the dome with Reed’s help, so her eyes were back to normal. “Now, tell us how to make the cure.”

  “Firstly, you should know that the antidote will only cure those who have been bitten, but have yet to fully succumb to the plague,” Lavinia said. “Those mindless, black-winged creatures are beyond saving.”

  “You lied,” I said, and lightning flashed above us. “You said you’d give us the true cure.”

  “That is the true cure. I thought you’d be happy about it, since it means your soulmate will live?” She glanced to Julian, and then back at me.

  “But all those others will die.”

  “They already are dead,” she said. “They died the moment the poison entered their hearts and transferred their last remaining magic to Fallon.”

  “What are you talking about?” Julian asked.

  “The plague is one of a kind. I created it with Fallon’s blood,” Lavinia said, and she continued on to explain everything Fallon had told me in the crater.

  “So Fallon absorbed fae magic,” Julian said once she was finished. “What about half-bloods?”

  “The spell can’t break through bound magic. I’m sure you saw the remnants of what happened to the half-bloods on your way here.”

  “The puddles of goo,” he said.

  “Yep. The poison ate right through them. It’s unfortunate, really. If their magic hadn’t been bound, it would have been more magic for Fallon to absorb.”

  I shuddered, because even though I’d suspected that the black tar was the remnants of the half-bloods, it was different to have it confirmed. If I’d freed them beforehand…

  They’d be as lost to us as the black-winged fae, and Fallon would have had more magic when we fought at the crater.

  In a way, the half-bloods’ having bound magic might have saved me, and therefore, saved the Otherworld from total destruction.

  “I can’t say I’m sad that Fallon’s dead,” Lavinia continued. “I was the reason she had so much magic. She was supposed to use it to protect me.”

  “That’s what you get for trusting demons.” Sage laughed with dark satisfaction. Her eyes flashed yellow, and her nails shifted into claws.

  “We need to stay focused,” I said before Sage could do or say anything she regretted. “You promised you’d tell us how to make the cure. So now, tell us.”

  “Fine,” she said, and she listed off a bunch of ingredients—a combination of flowers, leaves, and tree sap. Many were similar to the ingredients used to make healing potion. There were just a few changes here and there, and one major one.

  “Do you have all of these in the Otherworld?” I asked Julian.

  “I�
��m not a botanist, but I’ve heard of some of them,” he said. “But given the state of the Otherworld, I’m not sure how easy they’ll be to come by.”

  We looked sadly around at the barren, dead land around us. Judging from what we’d seen on our journey, the rest of the Otherworld was in a similar condition.

  “We have all of those ingredients—except the obvious one—in Avalon’s apothecary,” Torrence said, and she narrowed her eyes at Lavinia. “If you give me permission to portal back to Earth, I can easily get my hands on them, create a test vial of the cure, and bring it back here.”

  I waited for Lavinia to say no, or to propose another deal.

  “Go ahead,” she said instead, and I stood on edge, ready for her to continue on with some sort of catch.

  She didn’t.

  “Just like that?” I asked.

  “Just like that. Although, I don’t imagine you can portal back from here, can you?”

  “I have a portal token,” Torrence said. “The one that brought us to Ryanne’s villa. We need to get back there, and then I can use it.”

  “That token will bring you back to the foyer of King Devin’s penthouse,” Thomas said. “Like all vampire kingdoms, there’s a boundary dome around the Tower to keep you from teleporting in or out of there. You’ll be trapped inside. And who knows what he’ll do to you if you show up alone.”

  “I can handle him.” Torrence’s eyes flashed black—but only for a second.

  Still, it was one second too long.

  “Why don’t we go straight to Sorcha?” Sage said. “She needs the cure for Kyla. I’m sure she’ll be open to a deal in return for loaning you one of her portal tokens.”

  “We need to think more long term than that,” Julian said in that confident way of his that got everyone’s attention. “We can’t show the Empress our cards this early. The less time she has to figure out how to use our knowledge against us, the better.”

  “What are you proposing?” I asked.

  “We need to go to a fae who likely has a token of their own. Someone in our corner who won’t use this as an opportunity to take advantage of us. Someone we can trust.”